Thursday, July 28, 2016

15 best Android games of 2016

[Price: Free with in-app purchases]To date, there have been few racing games with the longevity of Asphalt 8: Airborne. The game contains a metric ton of content, including a single player campaign, multi-player races, time trials, unlockable content, and consistent updates that add new tracks and other new content. The graphics are pretty decent and the game should work on most devices. There are plenty of racers, but Asphalt 8 hits more of those sweet spots than any of its competitors. At least for right now.Check out more games from Gameloft!

[Price: Free / $3.99]BADLAND doesn’t seem like much at first. It’s a side-scrolling runner where you must avoid obstacles and keep the ever-scrolling screen from swallowing you whole. However, once you dig into this game, it’s difficult to deny it’s depth. There is a real-time multiplayer (including local co-op mode), a sizable adventure mode, and updates toward the end of 2015 even let players create their own levels. In a land where time wasters get boring very quickly, this one seems to just keep going.

[Price: Free with in-app purchases]Crashlands was released in 2016 and it’s already among the best Android games ever made. It features an intergalactic trucker that ends up crash landed on an alien planet. Your job is to find out what’s going on, build yourself a base, collect various items (and craft them), and save the world from a nefarious plot. It has an RPG element for character development, tons of items that you can collect and craft, and the game makes itself easier by doing things like auto-sorting your inventory. It’s a ton of fun and contains dozens of hours of content. The best part? There are no in-app purchases to get in the way.

[Price: Free with in-app purchases]Fallout Shelter was released in 2015 to fantastic fanfare and generally positive reviews. In this game, you must build a fallout shelter (roll credits), populate it with people, and then manage everything so that it runs well. You’ll have to send dwellers out into the wastelands for supplies and fend off bad guys trying to kill everybody. You can make babies, create entire communities, and all kinds of stuff. It has substantial depth and it’s a game you can easily play for months before you even realize it has in-app purchases.Here are all the apps and games from Bethesda!

[Price: $9.99]The Geometry Wars series has quite a sizable fanbase and has been consistently described as one of the most enjoyable indie games ever made. Geometry Wars 3 continues that proud tradition by introducing 3D maps constructed out of various shapes to make the game more challenging. It features 100 levels, 12 battle modes, and it’s all played over 15 3D grids. As per the norm, you’ll have super abilities and all of the HD, colorful explosions that your brain can handle. $9.99 may seem pricey for a mobile game, but there are also no in-app purchases.Check out all the titles available from Activision!

[Price: $6.99]Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is pretty much what every gamer could ask for on mobile. As with most Grand Theft Auto games, it comes with an open world to explore, dozens of hours of game play, decent graphics, a story line, and plenty of stuff to do. Rockstar Games also included controller support, graphics settings, and cloud save support to put a bow on a pretty awesome little package. It’s a gigantic game and best of all, there are no in-app purchases.Here are the rest of the awesome games from Rockstar!

[Price: Free with in-app purchases]Hearthstone Heroes of Warcraft flew on to the scene in late 2014 and has been a staple of mobile gaming ever since. It’s a concept that is similar to games like Pokemon or Magic: The Gathering where you collect cards, build decks, and the duel other players using those decks. There are some offline components but the game is pretty much always online. You can also engage with cloud saving via battle.net which will allow you to play the game on your PC or mobile device interchangeably.Click here to check out all the apps and games from Blizzard!

[Price: $2.99 with in-app purchases]All of the Kingdom Rush games are pretty good but the most recent title is Kingdom Rush Origins. This is a tower defense game with a fantasy theme where you must build towers and deploy heroes to defend against hoards of bad guys. Towers and heroes all have their individual perks and can be updated as you progress. Kingdom Rush isn’t an overly complex game, but it’s an all around solid and enjoyable experience. The game is $2.99 with in-app purchases which is an admittedly bold move, but you can make it to the end without using the in-app purchases.Check out the rest of the Kingdom Rush series by Ironhide Game Studio!

[Price: $6.99]Minecraft is a popular game all around the world for people of all ages. For those who have never played, Minecraft puts you in a giant world where you mine stuff, build stuff, beat up bad guys, and do pretty much whatever you want. There is a survival mode where you must mine your own resources and food along with a creative mode that gives you unlimited everything. Updates at the end of 2015 added in Redstone which allows you to create even more fun stuff. There are also no in-app purchases.Here are the other titles from Mojang!

[Price: $13.99]SOULCALIBUR is one of the more recognizable and popular fighting franchises on consoles. The original title has been ported to Android with great success. It contains improved graphics from the original, Google Play Games services (achievements and leaderboards), and various game modes such as time attack, survival, arcade, and the excessively difficult extra survival. The on-screen controls work surprisingly well and it all adds up to arguably the best fighting game experience on mobile. The price is a little steep but there are no in-app purchases.Check out the rest of the BANDAI NAMCO collection!

[Price: Varies]Square Enix is one of the few “big name” developers that took mobile gaming seriously from the start and they have some of the best Android games available anywhere. Fans of jRPG games have remakes of Final Fantasy 1-6 and 9, seven Dragon Quest games, Chrono Trigger, and the Chaos Rings series to play and they’re all really good. Hitman: Sniper, the original Tomb Raider, and Lara Croft GO round out a decent selection of puzzle games. You have Heavenstrike Rivals and Final Fantasy Tactics: WotL for tactical RPGs, Secret of Mana for an action RPG, and the Deus Ex series for strategy shooter enthusiasts. It’s a huge collection of games and most of them are really good. Square Enix actually has two developer pages on Google Play. For the ones with Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, click the button below. For the one with Lara Croft GO, Hitman: Sniper, and Tomb Raider, click here!

[Price: Varies]Telltale Games are the undisputed masters of the episodic adventure game genre and they have the chops to prove it. They have seven games in their arsenal right now and they are The Walking Dead seasons 1 and 2 along with the standalone Michonne game, Game of Thrones, Tales from the Borderlands, The Wolf Among Us, and Minecraft: Story Mode. These games all revolve around similar “point and click” mechanics and they all have stories that can be altered by the decisions of the player. They also all have five episodes a piece that are purchased as in-app purchases and they can all be completed in about 10-15 hours. They’re great games with a good stories, good graphics, and easy game play mechanics. Click the button below to check out the entire Telltale Games collection!

[Price: $4.99]The latest game in The Room series is just as big of a hit as its predecessors and they remain among the best Android games. For those who have never played the game before, The Room is a beautifully done puzzle game that involves a number of unique objects in a room that you must solve to unlock their secrets. You progress from room to room to find even more unique objects and solve their puzzles until you win the game. The third one includes cloud saving, multiple profiles, alternate endings, and the same beautiful puzzles and graphics that drove people to play the first two titles. There are also no in-app purchases.If you want to check out The Room 1 and 2 from Fireproof Games, click here!

[Price: Free with in-app purchases]UNKILLED is the latest zombie shooter from MADFINGER Games, the same developers that brought us Dead Trigger 2. In fact, UNKILLED has replaced Dead Trigger 2 as the best zombie shooter on Android right now. It features great graphics, over 300 missions to complete with boss fights, various weapons and things to unlock and upgrade, online PvP mode, and the graphics get even better if you’re using a Tegra X1 device. Yes, it’s a freemium game but it’s a definitely a good one.Click here to check out Dead Trigger, Shadowgun, and more MADFINGER Games titles!